Religion

WHERE DOES HEAVEN ON EARTH HANG OUT
by

WHERE DOES HEAVEN ON EARTH HANG OUT

GOOD MORNING ALL
An interesting day so far. Running a bit late for today but slept in late with the dogs and it changed my pace for my day off. I kept watching “OLD” TV and with laundry in the background I became enhanced with the “OLD” TV that I watched while growing up vs the “NOW” TV and what it has become.

Life has really changed over the years and TV is no different than what politics has become. Technology as well as culture has changed considerably. From no TV to the INTERNET and SOCIAL MEDIA, life has changed considerably in a very short period of time.

I am becoming more comfortable with my old favorite, instrumental music only, that the dogs get to listen to when I am off to work. I am kind of like back from outer space and resuming my day off. I feel young watching “OLD TV” and old while watching how it has all changed.

One question that entered my mind is how GOD and JESUS and HEAVEN ON EARTH have changed. Between HEAVEN and HELL and SIN and REVELATIONS on the doorstep, the Christian religion has out paced HEAVEN ON EARTH. Just what kind of EARTH is HEAVEN supposed to be like by now? What changes would GOD present EARTH to be like since the FLOOD. Then JESUS was supposed to reset our mindset about HEAVEN ON EARTH.

The books of BIBLE, or REVELATIONS, as an example, is a huge business for the religion of JESUS the CHRISTIAN. It is hard to determine just what they are trying to accomplish with book after book after book about the end. The book people are happy, and there seems to be a Christian religious book for everyone irregardless of the different opinions of over 30,000 denominations of “Christians” ON EARTH. JUST AS IT IS IN HEAVEN? How does one decide just which book to read and what do I want to take away from the book I am reading. Where does HEAVEN on EARTH hang out? How are we to grasp which image is the future image or the past image.

I want to offer a very simple NEW IMAGE from an OLD, OLD LEGEND:

LOVE ONE ANOTHER. PERIOD.

NO SPECIAL BOOKS. NO special chapters. NO BIBLES and NO ANYTHING ELSE. Easy to remember. Covers all the grounds. DEALS WITH ALL CULTURES AND ALL COUNTRIES. One just makes it work themselves. Maybe even HEAVEN can’t be this difficult to make it work.

The weather is nice today and it is due to rain tomorrow. Have a wonderful day and enjoy all the opportunities that the day presents. OUR CARES AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU ALL.

ME, Mack and Jake

Heaven, Hereafter, or hereNOW
by

Heaven, Hereafter, or hereNOW

Heaven, Hereafter, or hereNOW

From 5-30-2006

I have heard a great many sermons in my life that are to tell me what heaven and the hereafter are like. I have heard so many that I now know one thing for certain; no one has a clue.

Hereafter

I do know that if I do not choose Jesus as my Lord and savior I am doomed to eternal damnation and life in Sheol (whatever that is). I do know that I cannot be saved if I am not Baptist, (or Mormon, or Methodist, or Presbyterian, Evangelical or Episcopalian and certainly I don’t have a prayer of heaven if I am not Catholic). This causes a substantial dilemma since I cannot be all of the above at the time of my death. Of course, I will also spend a life in eternal damnation if I am not Jewish, or Sunni or Sikh, or Moslem or Hindu or Buddhist or any of dozens of other religions that inhabit the Earth.

I guess that means that I may resign myself to the “bad” place.

Then again:

ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

Jesus, as a teacher or Rabbi or preacher or philosopher or son of GOD, holds forth in his hand the ultimate carrot, “Why wait?”

I do not believe that Jesus came and sacrificed himself on a cross to merely extend promises of a fancy divine hereafter. Most religions seem to offer up Nirvana in some shape or form.

What Jesus did was to come and offer us insights as to how we can positively impact the here and now. Jesus taught us how to impact the heaven that lies within our grasp right now, daily, not the after.

Whether Heaven has mansions or refers to new bodies in different times as the Hindu believe (reincarnation) is irrelevant to me. Whether we sing in a divine chorus 24/7 (or whatever time-frame is the physics of heaven) is not as relevant to my living as the promise that I can experience heaven now, as Dennis, as me. It is equally important that you can live it as you.

Is it no wonder that Jesus’ teaching was so radical that most, not even those closest to him, could comprehend His meaning? The Heaven that Jesus prayed for is within our grasp daily. ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN, what a radical and impossible dream. LOVE ONE ANOTHER, another impossible dream.

Daily? A fantasy for sure. Jesus has been the object of great debate since the beginning. Those who do not wish to change much look forward to the end of their lives firm in the knowledge (or belief) that the hereafter has the mansion they couldn’t charge here. They look toward a magic place where grace takes them and places upon them a robe of authority or position and extends divine preference based on the sign in front of the building they visited on Sunday morning or Saturday afternoon for an hour or two out their week.

And yet no one can tell me what they will do all day, every day, for eternity. More than that, they wish me to believe that they can perform this function for eternity when they get fidgity now after 60 minutes out of each week in GOD’S own house, which they built with their own money. How do they expect to be satisfied with that heavenly life when a half hour of prayer daily is a challenge. How will they adore GOD every day, all day when they can not accept the Muslim on their knees 5 times daily when they are reluctant to extend thanks at the dinner table with GOD’S blessing of food to eat before them daily.

I do not believe Jesus was about hereafter. All kinds of religion handle the hereafter. What was unique about Jesus was his preaching about the hereNOW.

Jesus did not say to the blind man, “Your sight will be restored in the hereafter”.

Jesus did not say to the lame man, “You will walk on the heavenly shore”.

Jesus did not say, “Kill your neighbor and you will be great in heaven”.

Jesus did not stand before the tomb of Lazarus and yell “Lazarus, have a great time.”

Jesus did ask of his spiritual father, “On Earth as it is in heaven”.

Jesus was about the hereNOW.

The great teachers teach us how to live the here and now. They teach us how to make the best of who we are, appreciate what we’ve been given, share the blessings of our wealth be it physical or spiritual, and enjoy the journey of our living. Jesus says to me, appreciate, share, and enjoy for the Father has tomorrow handled. Whether I play a harp for eternity, or return to this place again and again and again is GOD’S venue, what Dennis Wheeler does with His appointed days is mine. I can live an example of a Jesus or Jimmy Hoffa. I can appreciate all I’ve been given or be driven to power and it’s ultimate corruption. I can share what I’ve been given or horde it until that day when it lies in a yard sale weeks after my passing, or worse yet, is tossed into a dumpster and becomes buried with countless other lives under tons of dirt fill.

The reality of life is the hereNOW, the speculation is the hereAfter.

If GOD was less concerned for us He would not have utilized Jesus to promote a better hereNow. GOD would have left us to the Jewish law, or paganism, or mythology. We would be eternal passers by, the bad Samaritan, the righteous priest or the self focused CEO or CFO.

What if I’m in Heaven now? Do I help its dream, or hinder it? Am I promoter of it, or a thief? Am I an encourager of living or a prospector of dying? What do I feel that Jesus would have me do? If I call myself a Christian, to be true to my Jesus and myself, I should be living the best hereNOW I am capable of. I should appreciate it, share it, and enjoy it as the gift that it is.

Amen.

 

WHAT WORKS FOR YOU
by

WHAT WORKS FOR YOU

What Works For You? 

I have been writing for many years now. The notes that have become Unorthodox Christianity. They go quite a ways back. Why did I even begin with the writing. It seems I need to remind myself to write more articles. Why?

It largely began with the conversation with a Sunday school teacher I have referenced before. In second grade Sunday School, in the midst of teaching about GOD creating the world and GOOD and EVIL, the teacher asked an open door, “Do you have any questions?”

“Yes”. I responded. “If GOD created everything, why didn’t GOD just make GOOD PEOPLE?”

That was the end of my religious question and answer period. I was embarking on a life where I asked questions and I looked for answers.

First question became IS GOD JUST A REALLY BIG GUY IN THE SKY? Then I touched on JESUS. Should I simply ask the questions to the BIG GUY AT THE TOP? Why Work around the middle man. My dad had worked with professional sales representatives. I guess I got it from him.

I looked up at the sky one evening when I was about 13-14 years old. I began asking GOD questions, with help from the middle man. I could not imagine a BIG GUY IN THE SKY. Too Big. Too many planets. Too many people, too many questions. Too fixed.

So here is God, a spirit that envelopes all created order, galaxies and universes we may never see. There are spiritual dimensions that we can’t even imagine and entities that even Hollywood can’t conjure up. Is GOD a celestial humanoid that only speaks one language and favors one race. A spirit (Whatever that is) that came before all physical creation, affects every single human on Earth to some extent. I have no problem believing in God (whatever a GOD is), but a God with limits on just what [HE] can or can not do?

Then you have the question of the power of Christianity, which is removed from the culture of the legend of Jesus a Messiah for what became a completely different culture that didn’t exist before Jesus? A Messiah that has yet to be accepted by the culture that refuses to accept Jesus as its own Messiah. The CHRIST of Christian is very much a separate entity from the culture Jesus came from and built around converts and Gentiles. In fact the Christian culture of early Christianity created power around an individual who preached LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

It is a wonder that a child in Bethlehem was chosen to carry the spirit and message of God to these people? When these people didn’t listen to Jesus, Jesus sent his insight for LOVE ONE ANOTHER through others who did believe in the life and story of Jesus into other cultures that didn’t speak Jesus’ language or have Jesus’ customs. Groups of other believers that translated Jesus story into their own and patterned their own beliefs along with Jesus. Could there be unconditional love in the midst of all religions without respect of culture, origin, skin tone? We have created racial preferences on EARTH which was created by a single entity to be made in “Our image”.

In the midst of it all GOD has already created that entity to be among us.

It comes in the framework of our pets, our animals, our disenfranchised friends that have a language of their own yet understand our emotions more than we understand our own. They understand our behavior and love us in spite of ourselves. They forgive us more quickly than we can respond. And there have been many millions and billions of followers that have moved forward into Jesus’ message of LOVE ONE ANOTHER, plain and simple.

GOD IS CAPABLE and HAS CREATED GOOD PEOPLE. The truth is that even the GOOD PEOPLE have been around since the beginning.

When we strip away the pious posturing and self beneficial exclusionary doctrines of certain elements of mankind that have made religious structures that make no sense in the in light of a loving GOD that created everyone to made in “HIS IMAGE”. A disciple of JESUS put it this way, GOD IS LOVE. GOD is a force of energy that too many people have refused to participate in. Look around you. Let us not forget an evil side of Succes AT Anothers Expense within the creation of the energy of LOVE that GOD has to compete with for individual attention.

And eventually UNORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY became a bit more than a question and answer period of a Second Grade United Methodist Sunday School student who asked a simple question. Why?

Because just CHRISTIANITY didn’t fit what I discovered. It didn’t fit the answers I heard of on TV. It didn’t match with JESUS.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER seemed much simpler than what I heard on Sunday mornings in church discussions. AND TOO MANY THREATS. If you do this, your off to hell. You will never go to heaven. Initially there was only HEAVEN in the first place. In the followers from different cultures who embraced the Jesus of LOVE ONE ANOTHER there was a different outlook. A LIFE IS OUTLOOK.

I discovered other things. They were shocking things. LIFE IS TEMPORARY.

Not only that, YOU CAN NOT CHANGE THAT. The opportunity you have been given ON EARTH comes with no time frame. GOOD, BAD, INDIFFERENT, a car accident, a war, a flood, a pandemic, a tornado, a world war. For many A diagnosis at birth, or in the middle of it. This life, with all of its challenges, is here and it is TEMPORARY in this format. We may follow the adherents from other cultures who believe in reincarnation, or do it over until you get it right. There are others who believe that you need to get it right and that is it. I, personally, have never imaged a day I do not get up to enjoy the journey over and over again.

UNORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY IS LIFE IS MEANT FOR LIVING, TAKE YOUR FAITH OFF OF THE SHELF.

LIVE IN THE DARK or LIVE IN THE LIGHT. YOU CHOOSE.

The variety of what you can choose is beyond my scope.

But I have always remembered one thing. “WHY DIDN’T GOD MAKE ALL PEOPLE GOOD ?”

BECAUSE THAT IS OUR JOB.

By the way we act, FORGIVE ME MY TRESPASSES (easy enough) AS I FORGIVE THOSE WHO HAVE TRESPASSED AGAINST ME (real tough).

LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU

(Way Complicated in it’s depth).

To me, the purpose of living is to participate in the adventure of life.

How you do that is what you choose. You do the best you can while you are here. I have always wanted UNORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY to give you a place where you can MAKE JESUS AND GOD WORK FOR YOU. If you so wish, have a conversation with an entity most of us call GOD. Or a carpenters son named JESUS. Wisdom is not exclusive to just these two. You will meet the wisest people at the most opportune times in your life. It will not happen by coincidence. It will happen for you by asking and recognizing it. It may be your lifelong adventure or at your last breath. You will be forgiven for what you know not what you do. And you may enjoy every moment of the journey. GOD has made all people good, it is just a matter of time.

GOD BLESS and I pray you can make your best life work for you.

It is your gift from GOD and a carpenters SON named JESUS.

THE MANUAL IS MISSING
by

THE MANUAL IS MISSING

THE MANUAL IS MISSING

There was a day, many years ago, when my daughter first entered my sphere. She was 5 months old and came via delivery on an airplane from Korea. There were many who gathered with us at the gateway entrance at the airport. The traveling companion stewardess brought her out and gave her to me. They also gave us a bag full of essentials to take with for a 5 month old girl. She had diapers, an extra set of clothes, a small hairbrush and wipes. As she was passed around among the crowd, I went off to a corner and began looking at just what the bag contained. I looked through it again. I couldn’t find it. I looked again.


THE MANUAL WAS MISSING

When I bought my first car I looked in the glove compartment and there I found a manual on how to figure out how the mechanicals worked. How to turn the lights on, the windshield wipers, the interior lights and how to work the radio. As well as dimensions and what kind of fuel to use. And so much more. Certainly a child must come with a Manual. How to be a dad, how to raise a little girl, how to teach. I was a bit overwhelmed.

I didn’t come with a Manual either, at least not at the beginning.

How many of us find ourselves lost, not prepared for the things of life as things happen? Today more than ever. What is a pandemic? Why can’t I just go get a vaccine and call it a day. Why is there politic, why don’t churches all believe the same thing. In Sunday school as a fourth grader I asked my teacher, “Why didn’t GOD just make good people?” I learned that that question was not discussed. Yet I wanted to know why. I have always wanted to know why. Why are things the way they are with an all knowing, all loving GOD?

religion_10

When I was done with Sunday School I was given a concordance Bible. A Bible where what Jesus said was written in red. I sat down and read the Red Print. Then I read the Old and New Testament. I had found the Manual.

Certainly it was not that easy. When I was reading Proverbs, or Wisdom, or the Psalms,  a parable from Jesus, or an apostle’s comment I recognized similar events or challenges that I had seen in the neighborhood, or a story on TV, or behavior that I recognized in my peer group. I read a simple set of rules that were put down by GOD.

Ten Commandments

These are a good start. If you find life being challenging do not refuse the Bible because it is “religious”. Look at it as an owners manual. A touch of history where when certain people did this or that their actions caused reactions. There is a story in the books that are about your challenge, both causes and corrections. Too many have their Manual sitting on a shelf covered in dust when it can be the start of a knowledgeable life that can make more sense or make pre-planning a norm and not reaction.

Have a wonderful experience when you sit down with the Manual and the one who wrote it. dw

ON EARTH AS IT IS….
by

ON EARTH AS IT IS….

For years I have heard many sermons about living life for a future existence somewhere in a place called Heaven. Are you living to die? Or are you living to live?

Jesus said, “Pray to your Father this way: (Matthew 6:9-): Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come thy will be done ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation (but when we have been tempted -dw) deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen”.   

“ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.”  I have pondered these words over many many years and I keep hearing a similar thought over and over, again and again and again.

How do we perceive HEAVEN to be. I often talk to people who are so stressed out
because they feel that won’t make it. But Jesus is offering an alternative that has the potential to take you there, now. How about “ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN”.

If you believe you do things again and again and again,
what is your incentive to do it in any one particular way vs another?
Should Jesus be the way or perhaps Mohammed, Lao Tzu, or James?
How does your ‘way’ fit into Heaven on Earth?

When things are tough, do you bag this life and start over?
What is the point?

If the object is the experience, then experience it.
Take it in, enjoy what is there to enjoy; sorrow where there is sorrow,
hurt where there is hurt, heal where there is healing.
Leave a little behind before you go.
Breathe the air in the morning.
Watch the sunset at night.
Touch the lives you’ve been given,
Take care of your charge.
Learn from the journey.
Enjoy the stay.
Be thankful for the gifts.
Give what you can.
Lead by example.
Risk your heart.
Respect others.
Allow belief.
Realize that some have not arrived.
Learn from those who have.

And when the journey has run it’s course,
Be grateful for the opportunity. You may be asked
“Would you like the opportunity to do it over again?”
ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN…..

 

**Ads are a matter of assisting to pay bills and do not reflect any endorsements by me.
THE ADVOCATE
by

THE ADVOCATE

The Advocate

It was one of those stormyish Midwestern nights. The kind of weather storm that comes in from the way west and you can see and hear it moving closer. The sky gets very still and the birds stop chirping and take cover in their nests and in bushes.

The little girl heard the thunder coming closer.

“Mommy”

Mommy says: “It will be all right, I’m right here, just stay in your bed, Jesus is with you.”

The thunder came closer, and then the lightning flashed outside the bedroom window.

“Mommy”

“I’m right here, your OK Jesus is with you. Just stay in your bed, everything is under control.”

And then the lightning struck as though right outside the bedroom window. The thunder crashed to where the house shook and the china in the china cabinet even clattered downstairs. At that same clash of thunder and lightning the little girl was in Mommy’s bed.

“Honey”, Mommy said, “It will be all right, Jesus is with you.”

“But Mommy, I need Jesus with skin on”.

John 14v16(njb): “I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate (protector) to be with you forever, that spirit of truth whom the world can never receive….”

A good friend used to say to the the congregation on our retreats “You may be the only Jesus that someone ever sees…”

There will be many times in your life, whether you profess Jesus or disagree with all religion, when GOD will call upon you to become the advocate that is Jesus with Skin On. You will comfort them and be the messenger for “LOVE”. You will hold their hand, wipe a brow, comfort them in sorrow, pull them out of their river. You will be the friend, acquaintance, co-worker, or even stranger that reminds them that LOVE EXISTS ON THE PLANET EARTH. In that moment you will discover a special kind of love. Unconditional.

John 14 v 25-27: “I have said these things to you (Jesus to His disciples) while still with you: but The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my Name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you. Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world can not give, this is my gift to you”.

Many I have never met have prayed for me. Many whose names, cultures, beliefs, and ideas have prayed for others under whatever banner they believe because GOD is not DEAD, but because LOVE LIVES. And because of your moment, you touched someone with LOVE and created JESUS with SKIN ON. That is what JESUS is all about. LOVE ONE ANOTHER. It is the message of Unorthodox Christianity.

“But Mommy, I need Jesus with skin on”.

**Ads reflect income for helping pay bills. Does not necessarily reflect any endorsements or product support by myself.

Jesus For President
by

Jesus For President

THE CROSS HAS BEEN POLITICIZED

The President of THE DIVIDED STATES of AMERICA has raised a BIBLE in the air using a sacred place of the worshiping of the sacrifice of Jesus, committed to LOVE ONE ANOTHER. A photo app to pat himself on the back in front of that CHRISTIAN CHURCH to insure the CHRISTIAN vote for DONALD TRUMP. I would suggest to MR Trump (To be sure there is nothing in his demeanor to promote a UNITED STATES of AMERICA ) that would ever relate in any way shape or form to Jesus of Nazareth.

It would be irresponsible of me, under the banner of Unorthodox Christianity, not to comment on my concerns for the future of the United States of America. In thinking of what to say, I reach back to another election post issued in 7-2-2008 that demonstrates the progress we have made as Christians
to create a better nation through the sacrifice of Jesus on
a cross 2,000+ years ago.

JESUS FOR PRESIDENT

7-2-2008

Politics and religion seem to be running hand in hand in this years election quorums. Many fictitious facts, and lots of idle speculation about pastors, beliefs, concurrence, debates, etc. I am often times amused when the “true” Christians debate the fact that Jesus was a Jew, celebrated the Jewish holidays, resembled all those whose heritage stems from the Middle East, and otherwise can not conceive of a non Christian Jesus. Fact of the matter is, were Jesus running for President of the United States the debate would not be whether or not he would be a good candidate, whether or not he is a good man, whether or not he has enough experience in human and international relations (one would think the theoretical son of GOD may have a handle on such things), but the debate would center around his Jewish birth and whether or not He still clings to his cultural upbringing and beliefs. Being that there were no Christians in Jesus time, and no Christ for that matter, until after Jesus’ death, it would be difficult to categorize Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth, as anything but Jewish stem to stern. The Christian right would therefore dismiss Jesus as a qualified candidate without debate. They would also strive to slure his character and fight to be sure he did not get elected to a position from which he could drag the country into perdition.

The most recent debate seems to center on whether Obama is a true Christian and whether McCain is conservative enough (whatever a conservative enough Christian consists of). So lets see, if Obama was Muslim as many contend, then certainly he must have succumbed to the ultimate goal of the evangelical movement and converted to Christianity when he had seen the light and been saved and thereby fulfills the greatest goal and objective of all evangelical Christians which is to save the world through the Christian belief and acceptance of Jesus as the Lord and Savior (whatever that means) and therefore He is the ultimate victory for all evangelicals and his election should be fought for and supported whole heartedly with sermons from the pulpit as to the great victory of Christianity that his election would represent.

McCain, on the other hand, is not conservative enough, does not seem to be saved enough for his ideals are not conservative enough, even though most conservatives can not espouse just what conservative is.

It is so confusing when we go out into the political marketplace searching for a faith system and not for a good man. Perhaps the difficulty comes when we search for Jesus in a man, for when we do that, even the Christians come up short. I don’t see Jesus as being political enough. Would Jesus say: You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” enough. He wouldn’t hand out enough perks, money or benefits, and otherwise would espouse love not war and throw our whole economy into the toilet to save the planet and help each other. Your right, a true Christian like JESUS would make things worse, not better to have in a President of the United States.  (7-2-2016)

So here now in 2020:

Here is a President of a now DIVIDED STATES OF AMERICA who promotes himself to be a good Christian using a religious home of worship for Jesus of Nazareth’s sacrificing of his life on a cross, Held up there with nails in his hands, blood on his brows and back, stabbed with a sword in his body and with the sun blazing on his body and then have the audacity to say “FORGIVE THEM FATHER THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO” just before he died. This politician then creates a Political theater for this poor Jewish carpenter whose mantra was LOVE ONE ANOTHER by shouting VOTE FOR ME, DONALD TRUMP.

Well, we have been told in church forever that JESUS will be back. Exactly what do you think JESUS is going to have to say to DONALD TRUMP? Keep in mind the DONALD was holding the BIBLE up in his right hand with a church framed right behind him to get an endorsement from CHRISTIANS with the news of JESUS inside the book by having peaceful protesters pushed aside by his own police using force and bullying and attacking the press after just saying that he (DONALD) cared about their welfare? That word NEWS in that Bible is not FAKE NEWS unless he was holding a FAKE BIBLE. What would JESUS espouse to DONALD TRUMP? “LOVE ONE ANOTHER”, “LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF”.  What will JESUS’ heavenly father (GOD) say to DONALD TRUMP: “THOU SHALL NOT KILL, THOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME, THOU SHALL NOT TAKE MY NAME IN VANE.
I want to be as far away from that discussion on the day it happens as I can. 

I could go on simply by quoting what Donald Trump has tweeted and say “Do unto Others as you would have them do unto you” must be beyond his capacity to read a BOOK such as THE BIBLE.

VOTE

I will vote my conscience as I pray for all of us to survive for every day that the Donald Trump keeps tearing America to pieces. If you respect him vote how you wish. This year it is a vote for THE UNITED STATES of AMERICA, not THE DIVIDED STATES OF AMERICA. 

 

**Ads reflect income for helping pay bills. Does not necessarily reflect any endorsements or product support by myself.

by

IF ONLY TEN?

The city of Sodom had turned their backs on GOD for the sake of a good time. The population preferred a good time and fun and the freedom to choose for themselves what they wished to do. It was party time.

When Abraham learned of God’s plan to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, he asked God if He will spare them if He can find fifty innocent, godly people. God reassures Abraham that if He finds fifty righteous people, he will spare the city for their sake. Abraham then asks about a lesser and lesser number until down to ten people as God answers, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it”
When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.GEN: 18: 22-33 (paraphrase)

The answer for the rest of the story was that there was one. Lot.
Lot gave a haven for the messengers from GOD. Lot was given safe haven before the storm hit Sodom.

Prayer is a common language. Pray now for the American people. As for those whose serious adventure at rebelling against those trying to save our lives is just now beginning. GOD will not destroy us for we have many more than just 10 righteous people all countries, cultures, colors and beliefs. However there is an irony to the story. Our destroyers live among us. Our destroyers are the accomplices of the virus. 

The population preferred a good time and fun and the freedom to choose for themselves what they wished to do. It was party time. What happens to the rest because of their actions is not, apparently, their concern. The irony is that their actions will affect their friends, their relatives, their neighbors and those who are risking their lives to help others. Freedoms are never free. We will be affected by our own people. Our own neighbors and our own associates.

Jesus put it this way: GOD is LOVE. GOD set down a set of rules to make life easier in a world where the desires of people to take advantage of others would require more LOVE at this time in history than ever before. Millions and Billions of people around the world have risen to the task at hand. Those who continue to take advantage of us for their own selfishness will reap their own rewards. If not giving the virus to themselves, in living the rest of their lives knowing that they were responsible for the lives that they affected. When they say to themselves it was not their fault, the images in the night will never go away and they will never have peace. A banner such as Christian, or Catholic, or Jew, or Muslim or any other does not necessarily reflect ones true behavior. You cannot hide the truth from GOD.

DO NOT KILL
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBORS AS YOURSELF
DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU

Prayer is a common language. I ask you to Pray now for the American people and those around the world who did not invite the cornova virus into their lives.
For those whose serious adventure at rebelling against those trying to save our lives is just now beginning. We have many more than just 10 righteous people fighting to save us. However there is an irony to the story. Our destroyers live among us. We have it on Jesus authority that those that do the tasks that a Loving GOD looks for will be with Him in paradise. As for the others, they will refuse to open the gate.

Only GOD can help us now. And GOD is among us also.

by

Is GOD DEAD?

From a friend: JD Parsons (A poem from 1967)

Listen to the babbling of the atheist saying “GOD IS DEAD”.
If that were true there would be not GOD
If there would be no GOD there would be no man.
Is GOD Dead?
IS MAN?

From me: today:

Today’s news should be telling us something loud and clear.
GOD is not only alive but is ACTIVE and VISIBLE all over the globe. GOD has mobilized LOVE in the hearts of of a vast majority of Human Beings over the face of the Earth to put the well being of the Human Species above all others. They are doing this by aiding one another and showing that this LOVE ONE ANOTHER Giant has been awakened and is not aligned with politics but is aligned by LOVE.

GOD is surrounding us in LOVE and CARING people regardless of race, religion, belief, Politics, tribe, culture or Nation. The Coronavirus knows no favorites. The Coronavirus exempts no one. If our measurement is to be the GOD of the followers of Jesus, and HIS disciples and the things He taught, then the measurement of LOVE ONE ANOTHER is much more prevalent than any of us may imagine. Through the responses of PEOPLE throughout the world, GOD is proving to us that GOD is NOT DEAD, GOD is Overwhelmingly alive. The first responders all over the world, in every culture, with the banner of every religion or lack there of, with every doctor, nurse, housekeeper, family member, national origin, sport team, favorite TV or movie. No matter what state, province or line that is a border. All are volunteering to help more people that they have never met than at any other time in the history of the world. It is obvious that LOVE is not the exclusive venue of a few select cultures, races, classes or any other division you wish to choose. LOVE is a gift from GOD to the WORLD.

IS GOD DEAD?
Is MAN? 

SELFISH GRACE
by

SELFISH GRACE

SELFISH GRACE?

“The Lord is my Savior and my Guide” (adapted from the 23rd psalm of David)

Saving Grace is referred to often as a gift from GOD for belief in the teachings of Jesus and many of the prophets. And disciples.

What is it exactly that I am being saved from?

What is the purpose of this saving grace?

Jesus gave the ultimate example of GOD’s saving grace when He was crucified on a cross for preaching love one another to a hostile audience of those who were profiting by the taking advantage of an entire population. They convicted Him of sedition because too many of those who were being taken advantage of them agreed with Him. Love One Another had become the ultimate threat to the powers that be. Two thieves were crucified along with Jesus. One of them taunted Jesus for not saving himself along with Jesus if Jesus really had the power to save. The other condemned his partner thief and pointed out “We are only getting what we deserve, but Jesus has done nothing to deserve this.”

Jesus mentioned, “Today, you (the second thief) will be together with me in Paradise.”

Recognizing his own wrong doing, and Jesus’s lack of guilt, was rewarded by Jesus for making that determination was a proof that GOD recognized a spirit had learned the ultimate lesson of life by admitting his own behavior was wrong and carried consequences and not blaming someone else for it. Saving grace was his reward.

What exactly do I need to be saved from?
Others?
Myself?

Does it save me from stressing over right and wrong?

I told myself once that if I was afraid of getting a speeding ticket the easiest fix to that stress was to drive the speed limit. Wisdom is acknowledging the simpleness of it all.

Saving me from hurting others?
Or for not hurting others in the first place.

The word SIN moves about the territory of religion quite openly and quite broadly today.
Some say we are born sinful. Some say temptation causes sin. What becomes our sin?

How can you be born sinful? Everyone has the choice of being sinful or not. But what is sin? What is it to watch for? As I thought about it there is a simple judgment to decide.

For me, I found my life was more complicated when I asked for things that benefited me and could have easily hurt others, whether I would recognize it as such or not.

What I needed to be saved from was my own selfishness. SIN is a simple word for selfishness. My own ideas of right and wrong are challenged when the direction that I am moving in is to feed my own selfishness.

An Uncle once said “In our rush rush society, there is never time to do things right, but there is always time time to do it over.”

One of the WordPress Bloggers (Mr. Ropeka) says to always take time to talk to GOD at least 3 days about change before before you decide what direction to go in.

My father-in-law was a city engineer in a small town in western Minnesota. I stopped by his city shop one day while he was working on the city police car. He stopped and stared at the engine for what seemed the longest time and I asked “What are you looking for?”
He said: “What is the easiest way to do it right the first time before I do it wrong the first time and have to fix it.”

Selfish decisions get the project off on the wrong foot. Getting back on the right track can be tiring and much more difficult than not being selfish in the first place. I think most of the world’s pain is caused by selfishness. Often the word that best describes it is sin, another word is evil.

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (The Lord’s Prayer)

“You lead me along the right paths (those of your own choosing) that I might serve you there” (adapted again from Psalm 23.)

GOD works overtime to help you find the right direction, the right decision and the right move. It is not rocket science, it is all around you in the people that GOD has cross your path. It has always been up to me to decide.

What do I need to be saved from? An enemy? A neighbor? A bully?

More than that, it is to save me from my own selfishness.

Sin is when your own selfish wants negatively impacts the quality of the lives of others.

Grace is when you recognize the risk and do not pursue it, or you admit the wrong, ask for forgiveness and pray for the strength not to pursue it ever again.

It is truly Amazing this Grace. (Thank you – John Newton)